For many years, large commercial bakeries have manually prepared batches of ingredients for mixing into large "doughs". These batches which are pre-mixed typically include liquid batches of several ingredients. These ingredients include soy oil, di-malt, yeast, fructose, honey, refiner's syrup, vinegar, and lecithin. These ingredients, along with the dry ingredients of mainly flour, are mixed in large mixers before being further processed into smaller loaves for the baking of bread and other similar bakery products. As an example, for bread, a first set of liquids comprising soy oil, di-malt, water and yeast are added to a "sponge dough" as the materials are first mixed. This sponge dough is then permitted to rise in a dough room before being further processed in a second mixer with a second batch of liquid ingredients comprising liquid sugar (fructose), honey, refiner's syrup (molasses), vinegar, di-malt, lecithin, yeast, and water. In the prior art, these liquid ingredients comprising these two batches (except for water) were hand measured into a bucket which would then be manually dumped into the mixer at each of the two above-described stages of the baking process.
This hand preparation and mixing of liquid ingredients at these two stages of the baking process was very inexact. The amount of each ingredient actually added to the bucket depended entirely upon the measurement made by the operator. Additionally, even if the operator were to make very exacting measurements, a not insubstantial amount of residue remained in the bucket after it was dumped into the mixer. Furthermore, the composition of this residue was inexact and varied from mix to mix such that it could not be adequately accounted for. It should also be noted that the water component of these liquid additions was not actually put in the bucket due to the fact that substantially more water is added at each of these two liquid additions than could be conveniently handled in the bucket. For example, in a typical baking process for bread or the like, 50-60 lbs. of liquid ingredients other than water could be required while the water component might be as much as 400 lbs. Therefore, in the prior art manual process, considerable inaccuracy existed in the addition of liquid ingredients which produced a variation in the product produced by the baking process.
This problem became even more acute as the inventors herein participated in an effort to automate the baking process. As can be appreciated, the liquid ingredients which comprise the liquid batch range from being quite viscous to oil based and even water soluble in nature. With this composition, pre-mixing of a batch of liquid ingredients in a scale hopper or the like might be readily anticipated to be a correct approach to solving this problem. However, getting this liquid batch to dump into the mixer at the appropriate point in time in a full and complete manner and in a reasonably short period of time proved to be quite a challenge. Not only did the sticky liquid batch tend to resist ready flow into the mixer, it also had a tendency to clog any reasonably sized opening in the bottom of the liquid scale and/or the delivery tube connecting the hopper to the mixer. Some of the ingredients, such as molasses, even left residue inside the delivery tube, thereby giving a visual indication that not all of the ingredients were making it to the mixer. Additionally, it was anticipated that the liquid scale and delivery tube must be flushed with hot water between batches in order to clean it and prevent its contaminating successive batches of liquid ingredients. However, this would require additional plumbing, the provision of hot water, the wasted use of an excessive amount of water, and interruption of the continuous baking process should there be any malfunction.
In order to solve these and other problems in the prior art, the inventors herein have succeeded in designing and developing a liquid weigh scale hopper and water flush arrangement which permits a batch of liquid ingredients to be prepared and then flushed completely into a mixer while leaving virtually no residue in the hopper or delivery tube. This is achieved by spraying the chilled water liquid ingredient into the hopper such that it fills it without overflowing to gravitationally help push the liquid batch out of the hopper and flush it while doing so. The liquid hopper is typically sized to hold approximately 180 lbs. of liquid ingredients. As mentioned above, the liquid ingredients comprising a typical batch would range from 50-60 lbs. This permits the liquid scale to be loaded to its maximum with an additional 120-130 lbs. of water whose weight helps force the liquid ingredients out through a valve located at the bottom of the hopper. Additionally, the water dilutes the top portion of the liquid ingredient batch which helps eliminate any residue which might form into a ring around the inside of the liquid scale at its fill line, as well as facilitating the flushing of the last portion of the liquid batch out of the hopper and through the delivery tube. Even after the scale is maximally loaded with water, in a typical mix of 400 lbs. of water, another 250 lbs. or more of water is then sprayed against the inside of the hopper and ensures a substantially clean flush of the inside thereof.
As can be appreciated, it is perhaps more difficult to achieve a complete flush and clean of the delivery tube extending between the scale hopper and the mixer than it is to flush and clean the scale hopper itself. In the scale hopper, in a typical flush, there is quite a turbulence of water and liquid ingredients which is created when water is first sprayed into the hopper. Secondly, as the liquid ingredients and water drain from the hopper, the water spray directly contacts the sidewalls and bottom of the hopper to further scour and cleanse the hopper. By way of contrast, there is no spray action which contacts the inside of the delivery tube. Furthermore, the liquid ingredients are squeezed into the delivery tube such that there is a significant contact surface therebetween which increases the tendency for the ingredients to leave a residue. Lastly, the velocity of the flushing water through the delivery tube begins at a rather slow rate but then accelerates. Therefore, there was significant doubt that the present invention would achieve a clean and complete flush of liquid ingredients not only through the scale hopper, but perhaps more importantly through the delivery tube connecting the scale hopper to the mixer itself.
With this approach, the chilled water which is typically added at 40.degree. F. will achieve the desired dump and flush of the liquid scale hopper and delivery tube whereas as in the prior art it was anticipated that hot water would be required to adequately flush and clean them. Therefore, using the liquid ingredient water eliminates the requirement for separate plumbing and the provision of hot water to clean out the inside of the liquid hopper and its delivery tube between batches. This unique arrangement and method represents a dramatic improvement over the manual methods utilized in the prior art and also facilitates the automation of this batching process.
While the principal advantages and features of the present invention have been mentioned above, a greater understanding may be attained by referring to the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment which follow.